Greenfields House, Westwood Way, Coventry, CV4 8JH
Tel 0845 130 7631 or
+44 (0)2476 694995
A District Association of The Camping and Caravanning Club

Landsdowne Camping, Hesketh Bank
Shore Road, Hundred End, Hesketh Bank, Preston. PR4 6XP
MapRef 102 / 418228

From M61 junction 8

Take the A674 towards Chorley

At the roundabout Turn left onto A6, straightaway get into the right hand lane and turn right at mini roundabout onto Euxton Lane ( B5252) 

Chorley and South Ribble hospital will be on your left

At the next roundabout take the 2nd exit B5252 (straight across)

At the next roundabout, turn right onto A581, cross the next mini roundabout

On your left will be The Talbot Pub. Then on your left you will pass Euxton Balshaw Lane Railway Station and cross over another mini roundabout. In about 100 yards at the next Roundabout Turn Left onto Wigan Road, then in 100 yards Turn right onto Dawber’s Lane. A581

Follow this road A581 for 2 – 3 miles, pass The Rose and Crown, then Leyland (Wyevale) Garden centre and Royal Umpire Caravan Park which are all on your right. 

The road changes name to B5249, after approx. 1.5 miles turn right on the mini roundabout at Croston Railway station. 

The road changes name to B5247 and is called Flag Lane. 

Continue through the small village of Bretherton, pass the Blue Anchor pub on your left.

The road changes name to Carr House Lane, after 1 – 2 miles turn left away from Preston onto A59

follow the A59, cross the black & white striped bridge then take the next right at Tarleton traffic lights (There is a church, St. Marys Tarelton, on the left at these lights).

Follow signpost towards Hesketh Bank, go past Booths Supermarket and out the other side of Hesketh Bank.

There is a sharp left after the village then 1.3m on left along Shore Rd, you will see Landsdowne Farm Campsite. Just a small farm entrance just after a large corrugated farm building that looks like an old 2nd world war air raid shelter
From Southport at end of Marine Dr, left at roundabout then follow signpost for Hesketh Bank. Site is 2m on right, Just after the road called Hundred End Road. Before the above mentioned air raid shelter.

Look at the location with Google Maps

Look at the location with Streetmap

Site is on the bus route from Preston to Southport more information on landsdowne camping website

Article from our news letter "The Wittering Witch"

The main street through the village of Banks is oddly named RALPHS WIFES LANE and everyone who travels along it for the first time will naturally ask 'who is or was Ralph'? The answer is born out of a chilling local legend which evokes powerful images of perilous times in which shrimp fishermen, desperate to feed their families, risked their lives on the shore. The most probable story is that on a wild night on the mist-shrouded banks of the Ribble, Ralph, a local fisherman, was swept out to sea - never to return. His wife, clinging to the hopes that he was still alive, went in search of him, calling his name in the forlorn hope that he would answer. Her devotion was recognised years later when the lane on which she kept her lonely vigil was renamed after her. While nearby Southport grew as a resort it wasn't until the 70s that the last of the horse-drawn shrimp carts disappeared from the streets of Banks. Shrimping and potato growing were cottage industries where the whole family got involved. The women and girls shelled huge piles of freshly caught and boiled shrimps before they were potted and sold at Lancashire markets. Potatoes and vegetables were also harvested and taken to market by the whole family or pushed on handcarts to the railway station. A different picture emerges now as the major producers such as Flavourfresh have brought a high degree of commercialism to the area and huge lorries transport all manner of produce to supermarkets and wholesalers. The once close-knit community of Banks which joked about needing a passport to cross the Crossens Sluice to get from Southport has been joined by incomers from Preston, Liverpool and Southport to name but a few and the housing stock increased accordingly. The 'family farming community' has lost out to hundreds of migrant workers from Poland and the Eastern European area who move in and out as the seasons demand. Not only is Ralph lost and mourned but a whole way of life in what was a community held together by hardship and pride. Ed.

Local Attractions

West Lancashire Light Railway
Hesketh Bank

The West Lancashire Light Railway is a two foot gauge passenger carrying railway. The line features a number of interesting locomotives and other railway equipment brought together from industrial lines in the immediate locality, from elsewhere in Great Britain and from overseas.
their web site is www.westlancs.org
 
Leisure Lakes
Mere Brow, Tarleton

The Leisure Lakes centre offers water sports including windsurfing, canoeing and jet skiing as well as the less energetic pursuits of fishing, walking and picnicking. The centre is open all year round and hosts many special events including the hovercraft championships, horse events and mountain bike races and has its own caravan park and aWestern Theme Pub. For more details phone 01772 813446 

Mere Sands Wood Nature Reserve
Mere Brow, Tarleton

Mere Sands Wood Nature Reserve is owned and managed by the Lancashire Wildlife Trust and is a wildlife rich haven in the heart of agricultural West Lancashire. The reserve covers 42 hectares (105 acres) and is made up of lakes, heaths, mature broadleaved and conifer woodland, the latter supporting a population of red squirrels, the most notable of over 17 species of mammals that use the site.

Martin Mere Wildfowl & Wetlands Centre
Tel. 01704 895181
 

Rufford Old Hall
One of Lancashire's finest 16th-century buildings, famed for its spectacular Great Hall with an intricately carved movable wooden screen and dramatic hammerbeam roof. It is rumoured that Shakespeare performed in this hall for the owner, Sir Thomas Hesketh, to whose family Rufford belonged for over 400 years. The house contains fine collections of 16th- and 17th-century oak furniture, arms, armour and tapestries.

Article from our news letter "The Wittering Witch"

To the casual observer Southport must be a bit of a puzzle. Why south? It's in the north - and it's not a port - never has been! Southport owes its origins to the miners from Wigan who started coming down the nearby Leeds-Liverpool canal to the village of Churchtown for its August Fair which, with the fashion for a healthy dip in the sea, came to be known as 'Big Bathing Sunday'. Eventually a hotel was built nearer to the bathing beaches and named The South Port Hotel, hence the origin of Southport. What is odd however, is how a resort developed for the needs of the miners should result in a town boasting the grandeur of Lord Street. A broad, straight sweep of arrestingly unexpected elegance. Shops parade behind glass and wrought iron canopies and wide pavements on one side while a line of fine barbered and harboured gardens flatter grand frontages on the other - Reminiscent of Paris. So much so, that it is often referred to as 'The Paris of the North'. Wrong! The dramatic reconstruction of the French capital c1860 resulted from a visit by Napoleon III to Southport where he was 'greatly taken' by the splendour of Lord Street which was built in the first quarter of the 19th century. So, it would seem, Paris is the 'Southport of the South' and don't let anyone tell you different - so there!